


The Magic of a Steel Tube Propelling People Across the World

by edtheoddfish



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Competition, F/M, Feel-good, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-06 21:23:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17352854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edtheoddfish/pseuds/edtheoddfish
Summary: Michael and Eleanor meet on a long-haul flight on their way to Janet and Jason's wedding. 6’2” Michael is stuck in the middle seat while 5’ 1” Eleanor has the window. The two immediately make everything a competition.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this ended up becoming so much more than a one-shot.

Eleanor was a window-seat flyer. The ultimate don’t talk to me, don’t move me, don’t encroach into my space position on the plane. Also, with her shorter than average stature, the window seat allowed her to freely woman-spread in to the extra inch between the window and seat.  

She had sweet-talked herself into priority boarding and had lugged her fake-alligator skin carry-on above her seat and was ready to order many alcoholic beverages. Soon she’d be in the United Kingdom for Jason’s wedding. Old Eleanor, or at least Eleanor pre-almost being crushed by a row of shopping carts, would not have spent a single cent to fly across the world for a stupid wedding. However, post-accident Eleanor felt she owed her fellow alluding death friend an appearance — at the least.

After the incident she had found a chat board with other people across the world who were also experiencing survival guilt. In the past year she had met an ethics professor who taught in Australia. He was the hardest to communicate with as he’d ruminate over texts and emails for hours. The annoying dots and waiting symbols endless turning for a simple response, so Skyping was ideal with Chidi Anagonye. They would talk for hours about moral philosophy and ethics. Which was total nerd stuff.

She had also met a leggy giraffe who was all about the Twitter game. Tahani Al-Jamil had more followers than anyone she had ever met and could very well take over the world with such power. They could chat endlessly about her escapades volunteering across the world and celebrity gossip. In fact, she was heading to the philanthropist’s estate for the wedding. She had been hesitant to like Tahani, but her motives like Eleanor’s were legit.

And finally, she had met a fellow dirtbag, Jason Mendoza, who was a genuine idiot. Almost exclusively communicating through Snapchat they would bond over shitty pop culture moments and being the least cultured members of their group. Via a very loud morning Snapchat video, she had been invited to his wedding. He was marrying an intellectual type, someone that she hadn’t met before.

The core group had met a handful of times in their respectful cities, but the wedding on their one-year anniversary felt like a nice opportunity to meet up again. She was a fucking sap now.

Selfishly, as oncoming passengers descended down the aisle, she started to judge every last person them based on their appearance and suitability to sit next to her. Young family with a baby – hell no, family with two kids – double no, cute single guy – hell yes! Oh, he was wearing a lacrosse jersey, no. And finally, as the passengers started to thin out, a wild idea crossed her mind. Just maybe she’d get lucky enough to have the middle seat empty to herself for the long-haul flight to London. Wickedly, she grabbed her purse from under her seat and claimed the free space.

Unfortunately, moments before what she assumed would be the first announcements, a tall older gentleman stumbled down the aisle. He was as almost as tall as the ceiling and had a small duffle bag in one hand and a briefcase in the other. She glanced back and couldn’t immediately identify any seats left, which unfortunately meant this too-tall man would be sitting next to her for the next nine and a half hours. Sweet Jesus, she’d need at least two alcoholic beverages before they served the first meal.

Expectedly he stopped in front of her row, gesturing to the aisle seater (a normal and in-descript non-hottie) who got up to make room. Tall-o scooted in and immediately bumped against her knees with his own thighs. Which were so much thicker than her own. He leaned over to put his briefcase away and hit his head on the seat in front of him. Shuffling he grabbed his head in mock pain and half-sat up to get his seatbelt from below him.

After buckling in, he nervously looked over and smiled.

“Sorry about that, I nearly missed the flight.”

Oh great, he was a talker.

“No prob.”

He glanced away and started fiddling with the touch screen in front of him, the giant gray man was simply too large to sit in the middle seat. His long legs brushed the seat in front of him and his shoulders towed above her head. Eleanor wasn’t willing to share the armrest, so forcefully she parked her arm in between them.

They bumped elbows and he smiled again. Maybe in an old guy sort of way he was good looking. He had a chiseled face, was clean shaven, and had shockingly white hair. In a true old-fashion way, he was wearing a full suit with bowtie which in comparison to the rows of yoga pants wearing families was laughable. Personally, Eleanor had brought a comfortable hoodie, not a head pillow because only nerds brought pillows on planes, simple pants, and her smartphone. She planned on watching two movies and getting drunk enough to fall asleep and dream about sleeping with a pilot in the cockpit.

Finally, the cabin pressurized, and the announcements came on. As the flight attendant addressed the plane tall-guy perked up to listen. She rolled her eyes and continued to watch to Aquaman, for obvious reasons aka Jason Mamoa.

When the announcements ended, tall-guy relaxed back into his seat and took his slight ruffling to start a conversation again.

“I’m just so excited, you see this is my first international flight.”

She nodded her head, trying to drift back to her movie.

“I didn’t even expect to go, but I got a last-minute flight and well here I am flying on an amazing machine across the United States and the Atlantic.”

Her finger was edging towards the call attendant button, maybe they’d bump her to first class for having to sit next to this ridiculous giant man. The normie sitting in the aisle, miraculously had already fallen asleep foiling her plan of changing seats. Her faced scrunched up.

“Oh boy this is so great, I hope we get to use the airbags. I’ve always wanted to use them. Well voluntarily not because of an emergency. Speaking of emergencies, can you believe people take off their shoes and socks.”

That peaked her interest, “and socks?”

“Right? Those people are definitely going to the bad place. “

They chuckled quietly, and he turned to completely face her. He was even more chiseled than his profile portrayed.

“I’m Michael.”

“Eleanor.”

He smiled and turned back to continue his game of solitaire. The plane took off and in less than twenty minutes they were in the air propelling towards the UK. Other than the occasional knock of an awkward elbow or thigh, Michael had managed to keep his gangly body in his seat pretty well. But then meal service came. Eleanor had pretty much tuned out the world, staring at Jason Mamoa’s abs when she felt pressure from a very large and warm hand on arm. She glanced over and then up at the attendants.

“Oh, thank you, yes can I have a double gin and tonic. “

“That’ll be an extra charge.”

“For alcohol?” She huffed.

“Well we do have free in-service red and white wine.”

“Fine, I’ll take two white wines.”

The attendant was ready to clarify that it was a single free drink when Michael spoke up.

“She can have my white wine, I’ll take a ginger-ale.” He smiled at the attendant and back at Eleanor as they poured two white wines.

“Thanks man.” Eleanor chimed as she grabbed the drinks from in front of him brushing his suit jacket briefly.

“Aren’t you a little overdressed for an overnight flight?” She asked glancing fully at the three-piece suit that he was wearing. He chuckled deeply and it immediately sent a wave of interest to her loins. Maybe this flight would be more interesting than she was expecting.

“I wasn’t expecting to fly today, but an old friend of my called and asked me to come to her wedding. So, I dressed without time to pack anything else.”

“Aren’t you worried it’ll wrinkle?”

“I’m not worried, the wedding is at another friend’s estate and she’ll have an iron – or at least a team of people to press it. Oh gee, I hadn’t thought too much about it.”

He started to pull of the jacket, limbs flying into her space. Allowing her the chance to whiff his aroma. For an Orville Redenbacher type, he smelled nice. He folded his jacket and placed it on his lap. He reached for his ginger ale and lifted it towards her, “cheers?”

Eleanor smiled, clinked plastic cups and chugged the white wine in one gulp.

\---

The lights had dimmed, and most of the people on the flight had started to nod off. She had grossly underestimated how much warmth her hoodie would give her. She tried to curl into herself, her teeth occasionally chattering from the constant cold air pumping through the plane. The only warmth had come from the thick thigh gently pressured against her own leg. He seemed to be asleep, his long arms placed neatly in his lap, so only his elbows were on the arm rest.

She was so cold she considered leaning more into him, all she would have to do is scoot closer and adjust her arms so they would be against him. After thirty more minutes of restless sleep she went for the covert snuggle. She expected him to pull away or preferably not notice, but she did feel a distinct pause, and releasing of muscles along his tall and surprisingly firm body. The added warmth was nice, and eventually she nodded off.

At some point in the sleep her head had rolled even closer to Colonel Sanders and so that she was completely pressed into his arm. Connected from head to toe, she might as well have been sleeping in his seat, because they had joined as two. Not to mention someone had thoughtfully placed a thin airplane blanket over them — like they were a goddamn couple.

She started to come to, honestly unaware of how the exchanging of limbs had occurred.

Glancing over she realized Michael was completely awake. Immediately hyper-aware of their closeness she dislodged and the blanket rustled between them. Chills went down her spine from the rush.

“Morning there Eleanor, seems like we uh—”

“I need to go to the bathroom!” She grabbed her purse and stood up. Her 5-foot 1 frame allowing her to stand up in full without hitting her head. Normal-dude in the aisle got up, but before Michael could scooch out, she zoomed pass him. Her thighs bumped against his knees.

In the bathroom she quickly brushed the fuzzy feeling away from her mouth and glanced in the airplane mirror. Oh Lordy, that was unexpected. In the past year of soul searching and weighing her beliefs on the table, she hadn’t been outwardly attracted to anyone. Except for Stone Cold Steve Austin, obvs. Probably because her defenses were lowered and because of his unexpected likeness to Sam the Eagle, she had lowered her inhibitions. Also, sleeping with someone a foot taller than her was on her sexual bucket list.

As she cleaned her face, she stared to think that she’d never see this stranger again, so what’s the problem of maybe flirting a little? Figuring that her bathroom break was teetering on inappropriately too long, she headed back to her seat. Non-hottie got up after a quick subtle cough and Michael glanced up and gently smiled. “Do you want me to get up or do you want to step over me again?” He offered with mirth as he started to raise from his seat.

“No, it’s okay, I can fit…” She paused on the word and shuffled past him, her thighs knocking his knees again. She sat back down in her seat and rebuckled, Eleanor pleasantly arrived just in time for the breakfast cart.

“Coffee!” She shouted before the attendant could ask and Michael chuckled.

“No white wine?”

She smiled and they started to eat the stale airplane breakfast and managed to touch from toe to hip again, but neither party was willing to say anything or readjust.  He broke the silence.

“I think we’ll be landing in an hour or so, so what brings you to the UK?

“A wedding actually, for a friend of mine. I never expected he’d get married, especially abroad.”

“Where’s he from?”

“Florida.”

He laughed, “Oh yeah, Florida is the worst. Let me guess he has a custom license plate?”

Eleanor openly chuckled. “Oh yeah! But he found someone who makes him better.”

“I know someone like that. I’m heading to a wedding too. Would have never expected her to marry, she’s a very smart, data-based person.”

“So, a robot?”

“Not a robot, just a real brainy person. Her fiancé makes her laugh though.”

The conversation died naturally, and they continued to zone out in their respectful ways. Eleanor rewound Venom several times because of Tom Hardy, while Michael fiddled with the plastic container his eggs came in.

The attendant came by once more to pick up trash and Eleanor reached over Michael to toss her cup away. Her torso grazed Michael’s arm. In the entire time they had been sitting there, she hadn’t felt quite as small and it felt pretty hot. Her whole body maybe came to his shoulders or more likely his chest and he was twice as broad as her.

And then he coughed. “Eleanor, do you mind?” Oh, she hadn’t moved back. She had reached across him and just stayed. She felt the tips of her ears flush but wasn’t willing to look weak. Pre-Eleanor and current-Eleanor was way too stubborn to let KFC win.

“Oh, I just figured what’s some airplane space between blanket buddies.”

And he smiled and reached down for the arm rest and casually pushed it back.

“You know Eleanor.” He paused, and she mentally noted how silly he said her name.

“I think your right, we might as get comfortable for the rest of the flight and combine seats.”

His eyes glinted mischievously in the artificial light from above them. She swallowed and nodded, letting her weight settle into the stranger who was challenging her, and boy did Eleanor love challenges. She wiggled slightly, so that her breasts laid against his arm. And in turn, he rested a large hand on her thigh. Which was now the hottest part of her body. They stayed connected for maybe twenty minutes before a huffy attendant walked by and said, “seats up, everyone!”

And they both straightened up and stopped touching.

The descent started, still silence. The decline was bumpier than expected and as she tightened in her seat, the same warm hand that had been on her moments ago started to massage her knee. A reassuring gesture as they touched down in the UK.  

As the plane landed a few people in the back started to clap and she rolled her eyes.

“Now they are going to the bad place.” They laughed.

As people shuffled off the flight, Eleanor followed the tall giant who helped her get her carry-on from the storage as she struggled to reach. As they exited, she couldn’t resist.

“So, Michael, how long did you say were staying in the fine country of England?”

“A week, I’m staying outside the city at Tahani Al-Jamil’s estate. Ever heard of her?

And Eleanor’s face completely lit up. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards customs.

“Guess what Tall-o we’re sharing a cab.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I'll be continuing this fic. My bad on naming it what I did.

The cab ride out of Heathrow and to Tahani Al-Jamil’s estate house was mostly a quiet one. Eleanor had never been one for talking and was pleasantly surprised that the white giant was content to sit in perfectly good silence. He was gazing out at the country side, the window rolled down so the wind was blowing in the car ever so slightly. She had been sitting next to Tall-o for over 10 hours now from the too-close economy flight and now cramped cab. In the both circumstances, they had been touching ever so slightly.

Michael’s long legs were stretched out diagonally not to hit the front seat and his knobby knee gazed her own. Despite the humidity, the touch was pleasantly heavy. On the plane they had engaged in some very casual stranger flirty and now that they both knew each other, Eleanor should have had the wherewithal to end it. However, she also was the sort-of gal who took her high school’s homecoming DJ instead of her date home because he played, “Gettin’ Jiggy wit it.” So, she didn’t exactly have a moral high ground to stop.

Clearly it hadn’t stopped Michael either because the entire time they waited in customs, he towered over her, standing closer than a new acquaintance should. She remembered him reaching past her at the customs gate and breathing heavy against her ear. It definitely was an interesting addition to her trip. Despite a nine-plus hour flight, he looked well rested and his suit was impeccable. She was sleepy and was still wearing the same hoodie she had left the States in, but hey, she was still an eight without trying.

She had never been to the UK, in her year with the study group she had visited Australia when she first had seen Chidi speak and then Jacksonville as the team’s first full gathering. Both places she would probably avoid in the future – fucking bugs.

She had texted Tahani the specifics of their arrival who was pleasantly surprised to find out that one of Janet’s bridesmen would be escorting her. He was tapping his thumb against his thigh, which caused slight vibrations on to her own. This would be an annoying behavior from anyone else, but it felt kind of reassuring and she wished he was touching her instead.

As they pulled up to the largest house she had ever seen, Michael clamped down on her thigh and smiled. It was blinding.

When the car stopped, Jason, Chidi, Janet, and Tahani were waiting outside as a small welcoming party. Eleanor jumped out of the car and actually hugged her friends because she was a fucking nerd now.

Michael had stayed behind to grab her massive suitcase and his modest two bags. Personally, Eleanor wanted to bring as much stuff as possible to ensure her stay was nice. Plus, she was promised oodles of lux products and needed room to bring back Tahani’s nice towels. Wink.

Tahani, ever gorgeous in a tea dress started her hostess speech. 

“Welcome Eleanor, welcome Michael. I hope the trip wasn’t too uncomfortable. Next time you’ll simply have to take my private jet unfortunately it is on loan to my good friend, Shawn. Mendes. Right, I’ll have the staff grab your bags. As you know, the next few days are perfectly fitted with wedding festivities. Tonight, I am having a welcoming party for all of Jason’s and Janet’s friends. It’s going to be quite lovely, I hired the same catering staff who hosted the royal wedding.”

Eye roll. Unbeknownst to Tahani, Eleanor was standing behind her mimicking her gestures and mouthing along. Causing Chidi to advert his eyes in shame, Jason who was oblivious was watching probably a butterfly flutter around his face, Janet who was oddly still, and Michael who smiled at the exchanged.

Introductions were made, Janet, Jason’s fiancée was a total babe. They chatted politely outside before being escorted to their rooms in the beautiful mansion. Tahani had set a very tight schedule, which Eleanor hated, but it wasn’t her weekend.

She thought about how old Eleanor would prefer to start day-drinking and be in bed by 5pm after traveling that much. But again, the little voice in her head, or more specifically Chidi, was reminding her that this weekend was about Jason and Janet. Lame.

\---

She had never stayed in a place with so many hallways or rooms. And she had spent the night in wrestler, Rick Flare’s Las Vegas mansion. Her room was amazing, golden sheets on a four-poster bed in the middle with a small sitting area adjacent to a large window that overlooked Tahani’s crazy large rose garden. And the best part was an ensuite bathroom with jets! Score! She never wanted to leave. Maybe she’d just have to marry the leggy giraffe woman and stay forever. And the idea immediately was ruined when she remembered how annoying Tahani could be.

According to Tahani’s schedule, she was already 15-minutes late for the casual meet-in-greet in one of the many tea rooms. Not one to rush, she continued to take her time getting ready to feel like a non-groggy person again.

As she closed her door and stepped into the hallway, she immediately bumped directly into the 6’ 2” giant.

“Whoops, sorry about that, didn’t see you man.”

He stepped back, but not completely out of her personal bubble. He smelled like fresh laundry and hormones, it was amazing. 

“Oh no worries Eleanor, you’re actually the exact person I wanted to see.”

“Yeah me too. I actually want to apologize for the flight. I wasn’t expecting you, uh you to know my people.” New Eleanor had been trying to actually “be kind” to people, you know small changes.

Michael stopped and gave her a look that she couldn’t identify. It felt as if he was looking past her and into her soul.

“Well I’m not sorry. It was kind of fun.”

Flattering but unexpected. Not the response she was expecting.

“To be honest, “he started. “I did know who you were. Janet invited me to the Facebook group, and I saw your name on the wedding party list.”

Duh-doi. Eleanor hadn’t bothered looking at the Facebook invite, Facebook was for old people – case and point.

“Honestly, I kind of hate weddings. Too stuffy and you are officially the second person I know here aside from Janet. I dunno, want to make a game of it?” He shrugged casually.

 “Go on.”

“Flirt off. First person to crack loses. From where I’m standing it’s really a win-win.“

And the offer did seem really attractive. First off, she really wanted to wrap her legs around his long body and two she was already bored by the long list of official wedding nonsense. Who knew being a groom’s woman was so much responsibility? She made up her mind and stepped closer to him and looked up. She casually grabbed his long tie to pull him closer. She gazed into his blue eyes, her heart pounding.

 “Alright Mikey, better limber up because I never lose.”

And she released his tie and spun on her flats leaving a 5’ 1” void in his view.

_Oh, it was on._


	3. Chapter 3

As she walked away from the 6’ 2” giant, she couldn’t help replay the moment in her mind. There had been a truly mischievous look in Michael’s eyes when he proposed the flirt off. And to be honest, that look was additive. Another part of her, the small Chidi voice in her head was wondering if participating in a flirt off could have real effects on her friends. For the first few months after they met, the two would chat for hours at crazy hours about the moral implications of her actions. What used to be a little nagging voice now had name, Chidi, and it sucked. The other part of her, the raging hormones part, felt hot after the tie grab incident. So, she was going to call it a tossup and let it play out.

Tahani, ever the overzealous hostess had slipped an agenda with the day’s activities into each room and texted details about attire recommendations. It was about 1pm and she was starting to feel slightly jet lagged and desperately wanted to blow off the first round of activities. Plus fuck off, at no point except for the ceremony was she going to wear anything black-tie.

As she strutted into the tearoom she immediately noticed Tahani had already changed into a different, beautiful dress. _Barf._ There were trays of sandwiches and little finger foods on beautiful white tables – no shrimp though. Chidi was chatting with Janet while Jason was surrounded by the Florida dirtbags she had met a few months ago. They were mostly innocent, but they were exceptionally dumb.

There was a small band in the corner playing classics and Eleanor wondered how much influence Jason actually had on the wedding festivities, considering he was wearing an EDM tee-shirt. She grabbed a glass of “afternoon punch” and started to listen to them ramble on about muffin flavors – riveting stuff.

Michael finally entered the room and Eleanor had the opportunity to size him up again. He was easily the tallest person and was wearing a comfortable suit and bright tie. She couldn’t place his age or accent. Now was the time for some recon.

 “Janet? Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure!” _That was cheery._

 “Michael is in your bridal party, right?”  
“That is correct!”

“How did you two meet?”

“Well Michael and I met while he was designing a new neighborhood. He’s an urban planner. He needed someone to help him implement the design of the neighborhood and we became instant friends.”

While Janet rambled on, literally telling her all the information she needed, she could feel Michael’s hot gaze from across the room. It wasn’t long after that he glided over and placed a hand on her upper arm.

“Janet don’t bore everyone with the details of my life. You might miss something!”

She gazed sideways at him, his touch was singeing. It was borderline tortuous the way he joined the conversation while casually rubbing small circles on her arm while no one noticed.

**Michael 1 – Eleanor 0**

\---

Tahani clinked her classes and everyone took a seat at the long table in the adjacent room.

Eleanor was sitting between Chidi and the hostess herself. Michael was sitting across from her, engaged in light conversation with Janet and Jason. As Tahani gave her third hostess speech of the day, Eleanor mouthed the words “bad place.” Michael’s eyes crinkled.  

Chidi was discussing his favorite impressionist paintings while Tahani interjected with her favorite places in the world to see them. If her legs weren’t so long and glamorous, she’d be the worst person ever.

Eleanor was tuning out and dreaming up ways to retaliate. She had noticed in the last few hours that Michael was a pretty touchy guy, and she could definitely use that to her advantage. It started with a soft kick under the table whenever he started to drift into conversation with someone else. She’d make a funny face when he looked up which would cause him to respond with an even funnier face.

The soft kicks started to turn into soft grazes and although she was not very tall, she could still reach his thigh, just above his knee. She kicked off her flats and started to rub her toes in small circles along his leg, she was tickling him.

The touch immediately caused a gut reaction in the tall man. She could see the soft shiver and saw him drop his fork resulting in a loud clank. Everyone stopped talking and turned to him.

He coughed and picked up his fork.

“Great food Tahani.” Who promptly smiled in his direction and the conversation started up again.

**Michael 1 – Eleanor 1**

**\---**

The night started to wind down and Eleanor could barely contain her yawns. She was about to leave when Jason, who was surrounded by his immediate crew and called her over.

“Yo Eleanor. I have a big question to ask you. Would you do the honor of being my best man? “He bowed as if he was mimicking the proposal he gave Janet.

Before she could answer, she realized Pill-Boi, Donkey-Doug, and Chidi were all wearing at different levels of excitement Best Man 2019 tee-shirts. _Oh, sweet Jesus._

“In the famous words of Kim Kardashian, k.” Not wanting to miss a second of the shit-show that would be his groomsmen party.

“I think that is a yes, so, I know have my best mans.” _Not even close, grammatically._

She rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the too-large white tee shirts with spray paint logos.

“Put it on!” They shouted.

Swimming in the shirt she listened to their ridiculous ideas for his bachelor party. Feeling a subtle headache come on she excused herself.

Before she could completely duck out of the room and into sweet introverted-bliss, Michael stopped her and whispered in her ear. Placed one large hand on her shoulder to stop her and the other by her ear to amplify his voice. His palm grazing her cheek, causing her to shutter.

“Nice shirt, it looks great on you. But it’d look even better off.”

And walked away as quickly as he came by. Not even missing a beat she disappeared into the hallway, bright red.

**Michael 2 – Eleanor 1**

**\---**

When she woke up, she felt a new wave of determination in their casual flirt-off. She had fallen asleep re-imagining the heavy feeling of Michael’s arm on her body, the warm whisper on her neck, and more importantly the towering feel from the older man.  

During breakfast, she observed him. The subtle ways he’d touch his neck or face when talking animatedly. The hint of mischief behind his glasses, and most importantly the way he’d light up when complimented. The man had a praise kink.

So, the eye flirting commenced, once she had his attention she’d start at his feet and slowly and hungrily glance him up. When she finally reached his face, she’d wink and slowly look away. Perhaps it wasn’t the best strategy because it was making her feel hot during her “British breakfast.”

**Michael 2 – Eleanor 1**

**\---**

As the day went on, it became more and more obvious that Tahani was actually crazy. The games, the speeches, all for a couple that had disappeared into “Jason’s bud-hole pt. 2.”

The afternoon activity was the craziest yet, Tahani had sorted everyone into pairs from each wedding party to solve an acre wide maze garden that she had designed. The hedges were well over 8 feet tall and the maze was no shorter than a full mile long. Knowing half of Jason’s friends, there would probably be causalities.

Lucky or not she was assigned with Michael to enter the garden. In the light spring heat, Michael had forgone a suit jacket and was wearing a smart button up that was rolled up to the forearms. The sun was high, but Tahani promised it should take no longer than 45-minutes for each couple to solve it.

The unlikely pair walked in silence, which was much appreciated after the nonstop gabbing required to keep up with Jason’s crew. They both agreed that they would trust their instincts and pick whichever direction felt right. Which in hindsight is a dumb way to solve anything. But hey, team free-will and such.

After an hour of walking in circles, Eleanor finally had a wicked idea.

“Let me get on your shoulders!” She turned to face him completely.

“What?”

“If you let me climb you, we can see over these damn hedges and get out.” She was already stepping closer to him to jump on his shoulders.

“Now Eleanor,” He tsked, “that seems like plain cheating.”

“It’s not a competition, but I have to beat Tahani and Chidi.”

“What makes you think they haven’t won yet?”

And they both immediately started laughing picturing Chidi having to make so many decisions while Tahani would be getting more and more annoyed.

She stared at him while he looked perplexed.

“Chop-chop, Tall-o.”

He squatted down low enough for her to climb onto his shoulders. Eleanor smiled and wrapped her legs over him, and he instantly lifted her up.

“Damn Michael, is this what it looks like from up here?”

She tried to orient herself in relation to the mansion and the pools at the other end of the maze. From her room, she could see over the maze. If only she could picture it now.

“How’s it going up there? Not that I’m complaining or anything.” Michael spoke, as his hands curled around her thighs to steady her movements.

“Shhh.” She said reaching down and covering his lips with a slender finger. “I’m observing.”

“Well maybe we should switch.” Which caused her to laugh and cover his entire mouth with her palm. She squeezed his neck ever so tighter with her thighs for balance, which caused him to inhale sharply and grab her thighs even tighter.  

Sinfully, she decided to wait up top a little longer, periodically squeezing his neck until she signaled for him to let her down.

“You know Eleanor we should do that again sometime. I think I could get used to your thighs around my face.”

Dead fucking silence. She could read it in his eyes, the immediate self-doubt. Wondering if he pushed the flirt off too far, if he should stop. All things she didn’t want. In a funny way, this game was the most fun she had in the past year. Sure, her almost-death squad was swell, but Michael didn’t look at her like another peg in Chidi’s dissertation, he didn’t look down at her like Tahani would always disapproving. She liked the attention and hell she knew that self-doubting dialog way too well.

She breathed in, “well big guy.“

She could she his eyes lighting up. She reached out and grabbed his chiseled jaw. She gently guided him down so that they were looking each other in the eye. At this point, she may as well be standing on his feet because she could feel contact from thighs to chest. She breathed in again, swearing that Michael hadn’t breathed once.

“The exit is…” She stopped and stared at his lips. “That way.“ She released his face and turned around, heart pounding. This round was definitely a tie.

**Michael 2 - Eleanor 2**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the kind words. : )

After solving the green garden, Eleanor elected for some good ol’ alone time. Thank god for air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and soaking tubs with jets. Okay, mostly jets. The next two days were going to be busy and she was already exhausted thinking about the bachelor party and the wedding. Tomorrow would be the “pre-wedding glow.” Everyone was supposed to find their bliss between spa treatments, lofting around Tahani’s mansion, and upon groom request: so many jalapeno poppers!

Then everyone was to be carted off to some seedy nightclub Jason picked.

_“Uh, Blake Bortles owns 2% of this club it’s dope!”_

She could feel the pressure from the jets kneading her shoulders and the tension and jet lag, all drifted away. When she was younger, her mom would spend so much time taking baths. Escaping the house, despite the heavy Arizona heat. Relatable, but sad. Mood ruined from flashbacks of her terrible parents, she dried off and face-planted on to her plush bed.

With the much-needed downtime, she was ready for further recon. A skill she had established early in her dating life was the ability to research a man so that she could exploit every weakness to her advantage. With the modern wonders of the internet, it was almost too easy. She went to the Facebook group Michael had mentioned on the plane, ignoring the 50+ notifications from ex boyfriends who hadn’t gotten over her, she clicked on his profile, it was mostly bare except for a few photos, including a #TBT picture of Michael in his 30s. And damn, she shamelessly screenshotted the image for later. She closed her eyes; the stalking process would have to go past Facebook. Google search after Google search, with little return, who was this guy? Turning off her phone, she rolled over frustrated. She knew so little about the giant dominating her thoughts.  

Rolling over to regrab her phone, she texted her moral compass.

“Emergency! Need ur brain. Meet in the library?”

Ten minutes later, the … symbol was still turning on her phone. Predictable, knowing his dilemma she double texted.

“The one on the second floor.”

“Thank you, see you in five.”

Eye roll. She pulled herself off the plush bed and changed into a cozy sweater and jeans. The entire time wondering how Tahani could possibly be bothered to wear tea dresses all the time.

The library that she discovered was beautiful. It was reminiscent to Beauty and the Beast. Not that she had seen it or anything. As she entered, she ran her fingers along the spines of the books. The aisles were chock-full of old books, in the past year she had become quite the academic. Gross.

After grabbing a handful of interesting books, she started to read the summaries when Chidi appeared. In another world, in another life, she could see herself falling for him. He was kind, and warm, and was always there for her.

“Hi Chidi.”

“Hello Eleanor. So, what’s the emergency?”

“Okay, so the quick and dirty is that on the flight here I sort of met someone. He was super tall, and we started flirting and touching, then it turned out he knew who I was, and the person was Michael.”  

She stopped.

“Oh, I have stomachache…” The human sweater-vest said as he crouched over at the waist.

“I’m not done.”

“There’s more?”

Without missing a beat, she continued, “Then we kept flirting all the way here and now we are stuck in a literal flirt off. It started with just some sort of sexual tension, but then today when we we’re solving that stupid maze.”

“Stop, stop, while everyone else was in good faith solving Tahani’s maze you were- “

“No, we haven’t. Yet. I mean, I don’t know if we ever will. I think I want to though?”

“Oh my Kant.”

“Chidi, you got to help me. I’m kind of on a good-person kick and I don’t know if flirting with Michael could cause anyone any harm. I mean, he is a straight up hottie, and weddings are literally the worst. But it’s Jason’s and Janet’s thing.”

Pinching his nose, he leaned back in his chair. She could see the gears in his mind winding.

“Okay Eleanor, I’ll humor this. Have you weighed the costs and benefits of continuing this –“

“Flirt off.”

“Thank you!”

“So, if you weigh the costs, possibly hurting Jason and Janet, your friends, and Michael, to the benefits.”

“The benefit is that he’s so tall.”

Rolling his eyes, “Then you can make an informed decision.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Excuse me?

“Philosophize me differently. I think that is a lazy answer.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want you to say it’s going to be okay and that I deserve happiness.”

He looked up and they locked eyes, his gaze softening.

“Eleanor, I think you know what to do… I need to go though. I need to meet Jason for something called “Red Zone bonding time”.” His nose crinkled, “Eleanor, you say that this flirt-off doesn’t have any consequences because it doesn’t hurt anyone, have you considered yourself?”

She stared at him, unsure of the response.

Shaking his head, he left leaving her in the cavernous room. Heart heavy, she draped herself over a long couch. Chidi always knew what to say, even when hurtful.  

She was quietly reading when Michael entered. She paused, holding her breath and trying to disappear into the velvet plush pillows. A few minutes went by and he still hadn’t noticed that she was on the other side of the library. He was in a truly private moment. He was leaning against a bookshelf, speaking softly in to a cellphone or maybe a tape recorder?

She couldn’t hear him. Slowly, she extracted herself from the couch and started to creep closer to him. She had gotten really good at sneaking when she worked at a shitty desk job and would literally leave for hours at a time with no one noticing.  

She was in the next aisle at the point of no return. She either could cough and break the tension but before she had to choose, he noticed her, he jumped causing her to scream, which caused him to scream.

“Why are we screaming?”

She walked around to meet him, “sorry about that dude. I was just reading over there and noticed you. What are you doing?”

“I don’t think you understand.” She gave him a poignant, I’ll fuck you up look.

“I was journaling.” He quipped, fishy but she wasn’t one to judge.

“What were you doing?” He said stepping towards her.

“I actually was reading…”

Debating whether she should tell him the truth she handed him the book she was reading.

“I was consulting the greats about a moral dilemma I am having.”

He flipped the book over and read the back of the book.

“You’re really into this, for a total ethics beginner where would one start?”

She felt a wave or excitement, “well I recently realized that I am a moral particularist. I would recommend anything by Jonathan Dancy, but Chidi recommends starting with the basics, so Socrates.”

He smiled, eyes crinkling. Feeling a moment of weakness, she wanted to reach out and touch his strong face.

Standing so close to the white giant in Tahani’s library wasn’t overtly sexual. They were standing respectable distances away, and she could only kind of smell his rich cologne. But yet again, a respectable distance was less than a foot and as she looked him up, she was fueling her size kink.

After checking him out a handful of times, he closed the book he was reading to give her a poignant look.

“Eleanor, would you mind? I’m trying to read.”

He reopened the book, pretending to be annoyed.

“You know Michael, this might be bonkers, but I think you should lose the flirt off.”

He placed the book on the stacks and turned towards her.

“Damnit Eleanor, “He looked frustrated like he was debating something in his head.

He continued, “it’s a tempting offer, but there’s something to be said about winning. “

His hands opened in a nonchalant manner, regardless he stepped closer.

“You know you could lose.” He placed his large hand on the base of her neck, fingertips sending electricity throughout her body.

She knew what he was doing, edging her on, and hot-diggity dog it was working.

She strained her neck, so they were closer in height, he took her lead and leaned in. He was inches from kissing her. Placing his other hand against the book shelf, he effectively caged her against the shelf.

“Well I guess we are at an impasse.” She wanted to reach out and grab his head to seal the deal.

“We could call a time out.”

“A five-minute break.”

And he leaned in and gently nipped her lip, waiting for permission to kiss her harder. She pulled back from the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Not waiting for him, she closed the distance. It felt so warm and her lips were buzzing with excitement. The kiss was slightly wet and a little awkward, she needed to be higher for the right angle. Using her foot, she pulled a small footstep over and stepped on it to even the height. He hummed in agreement and wrapped her closer. His arms were closed tightly around her. They were as close as possible, breathing hard, tongues heavy, it was fucking amazing. Moments later she abruptly pulled away. Moving her head to look away from him, chest breathing hard.

“Five minutes are up, Michael.” No response, his 5-oclock shadow gently scratching her cheek. She went to step off the footstool when he swooped her into the air so that he was carrying her bridal style.

“I was never good at following the rules.”

She was breathless.

Her mind racing, the whole thing was friggin hot. Eleanor, the classic no feelings, doesn’t open up to strangers, was completely falling for a guy that she had known for less than 72 hours. She wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in. She couldn’t place the smell but was warm and vibrating with hormones. He started to carry her towards the couch.

“Excuse me, Michael, you said you wanted to meet me here at 6pm. And as it is 6pm exactly, here I am.”

Michael turned to the noise coming from the doorway, it was Janet. Eleanor’s eyes were wide, she was still being held by Michael who was also absolutely still.

Always quick on her feet she quickly broke the tension, “thanks Michael I think you can put me down now. The glass was over there. Feet are protected!”

“Oh right, yes Eleanor. Just making sure your ok.” And he placed her down at a respectable, obviously not sexual distance.

“Right, well I better go grab something to eat. Thanks Michael!”

She brushed past Janet and darted into the hallway.

\--

Michael sat down the velvety couch. His head heavy in his hands.

“What’s wrong Michael?”

Michael looked up at the bride to be. 

“Everything, oh Janet, I think I’m in over my head.”

“Michael, when I met Jason, you told me to create my own bliss, you deserve happiness too. End of pep talk.” Ohmygod she was serious.

“I think this is when we hug.”

He inhaled despairingly, stood up and reached out to hug her.


	5. Chapter 5

Eleanor ran through the halls and directly into her room, barreling past Tahani who looked perplexed. She didn’t even have time to kick her shoes off before face planting into her bed, face flushed, body tingling, and feeling super cock blocked. Damnit Janet.

Quickly rubbing one out to the idea of large hands on her body, she rolled over and passed out.

The next morning, Eleanor awoke deeply unsatisfied. She pulled her body from the cozy California-King bed and showered off the disappointment. As she dried her hair, she considered texting Chidi the development, but decided against it. The guy deserved a relaxing vacation without her drama. Mentally high fiving herself for being a good person she embarked on the journey of finding some food. According to Tahani’s text, at 10am she’d join the ladies for facials and deep massages.

Ignoring the image of Michael rubbing her back with baby oil, she made her way to one of the tea rooms serving a continental breakfast. Loading up on carbs, she ate quietly while scrolling through her phone. God, she loved her phone.

As she entered the spa wing of the mansion, Tahani and Janet were waiting for her chatting among themselves.

“Eleanor! I’m so glad you could join us!” Tahani leaned over and gave her a hug, the height difference was astounding and slightly arousing.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world…” She dryly responded.

They were promptly escorted into a changing room where they changed into fluffy white robes and pre-warmed slippers. This was definitely a bonus.

The ladies relaxed as handsome men rubbed green goop on to their faces. Ignoring Tahani’s explanation about the benefits of drinking and wearing green tea to glow before an event, she closed her eyes and tried to cleanse her mind of the busy trip, her conflicted feelings about the flirt off, and her general resentment of mandatory social commitments.   

“This is heaven,” she lamented as they moved to into a warm room which smelled like fresh flowers. Tahani had arranged for them to be massaged at the same time for true bonding time.

“Eleanor, so tell me. Why were you running last night?”

And her bliss was gone.

“Oh, just running for bed. Jet lag is driving me mad.”

“But Eleanor-“ Janet started and Eleanor sent her a look so strong, she didn’t finish.

The conversation died down as their stresses were kneaded away. Eleanor mentally filed away that she needed to apologize to Janet.

Attempting a segue, she changed the conversation to Tahani.

“So Tahani, who’s your date for tomorrow?

 “Well actually, I am going what you Americans call stag, I’m slightly disappointed as it has simply been too long.”

Eleanor perked up, “go on.”

“Well, it’s been quite some time since I have, well you know.”

“I don’t know, tell me more.”

Tahani turned her head away from Eleanor and huffed.

“I need someone to figuratively plump my pillows.”

Eleanor and Janet lost it. They laughed full heartily as the tall giraffe, blushed a bright crimson.

 “Any prospects?” Eleanor wiggled her eyebrows.

“Well, I am possibly playing with the idea of dancing with Chidi tomorrow at the reception.”

“Get it girl!”

“I believe the phrase is: You go girl!”

\---

The sun had set, everyone had eaten, prepped and plucked for the big night. Jason had invited the entire bridal party, because in his words “oh dip, it’s my last day single. I want you here with me babe.”

The group needed two full party busses to fit.

Eleanor was sitting in between Chidi and Michael and was very happy to take the champagne Tahani was passing around.

“Yo homies, I want to say something.” Jason said, raising his glass and speaking to the ragtag group.

“To my hot wife!”

_How prolific…_

“Not your wife… yet!” Janet called out and everyone laughed.  

“My straight up hottie!”

“Yes, I am attractive, but so are you.” And they started making out which evoked lots of barfing noises.

It was time for Eleanor to plant the seeds in Chidi’s head to dance with Tahani tonight. Who was wearing a beautiful sparkly black dress and huge heels, damn, if Chidi didn’t want to dance with her, she would. 

She leaned into Chidi’s space and whispered,

“Hey buddy, what do you think of Tahani?”

He nervously laughed, “is this a trick question?”

“What? No, I was just thinking about how much you two have in common.”

He pursed his lips and looked over at Tahani who was laughing with Pill-Boi.

“I think you should ask her to dance with you tonight.”

He blushed, “but how do I know if she likes me?”

“She doesn’t have to like you to dance with you.”

“But I don’t want her to feel pressured because we are both in the wedding party.”

“Oh my god, it is so hard to be your friend, just enjoy the night and dance with the straight-up hottie who was been checking you out all night.” Eleanor tells Chidi.

“She has?” Good deed done!

They pulled up to the club which was appropriately American-themed. There were Jacksonville Jaguar jerseys on the wall, large candy wrappers everywhere, and an overall Grease-vibe. Jason immediately ordered fireball shots for everyone and Eleanor proceeded to down it before accessing the situation.

Some of Jason’s dance crew had joined them at the club, it seemed like everyone there was three shots further than she was in. Time to change that.

“You know, it’s my birthday. You should give me a free drink.”

 “Can I see an ID?”

“No, but it really is my birthday and I want a free drink.”

“Look, we don’t really do that here.”

She was crossing her arms, she didn’t need to go through these classic ol’ Eleanor loops but she was stubborn and liked free things. Suddenly, a tall white-haired man appeared next to her.

“You know, I can vouch. It’s definitely her birthday.”

The bartenders nose twitched annoyed.

Michael reached down and sat on the bar stool closest to her. Their thighs touching. “I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks with a twist.”

The bartender rolled his eyes and turned away to make two drinks.

“Well dang stranger, I owe you one.” She laughed, turning to face him. He was sitting next to her, perfect posture, also clearly not drunk yet.

Part of her wanted to talk about last night, in the library. The other part of her, who didn’t want to admit her feelings or be vulnerable reverted back to what she knew best, binge drinking.

“God, this party sucks, maybe we should do shots until it’s fun?”

Before she could even breath, Michael was signaling to the bartender.

Shot after shot, and they were chatting about nonsensical things like the best pizza back in the states, the most effective way to hold paper together, paper clips – Michael, literally anything else – Eleanor, perfectly avoiding the elephant in the room.

After shot number #4, Eleanor was swaying slightly in her seat, grasping on to Michael’s arm to level herself.

He was warm and smelled rich and musky.

“Eleanor…” She didn’t let go and before she could have the wherewithal to stop herself, she said the thing that had been on her mind.

 “I don’t know anything about you.” It was softer than she anticipated, and Michael looked pleasantly surprised she asked.

“Well, I’m an architect and I travel a lot… Growing up I had a dog named Korzoff, Janet is my closest friend and I like you a real lot Eleanor.”

She smiled and leaned closer, “that makes two of us big guy, cuz I am a straight-up snack.”

He laughed loudly and signaled for another round of drinks.

Eleanor had downed her third or fourth Mai-tai in addition to the shots and was happily leaning into Michael who was casually stroking her thigh. She placed a hand over his and they locked eyes.

“Michael, I don’t want to do something we’d regret.”

“I already saw your Mr. Peanut tattoo.” He said, edges of his mouth curling into a smile.

She smacked his chest.

“When?”

“You do know your Facebook profile is completely open to the public.”

She looked at him with a blank-stare.

“Oh, is that not normal?”

“No Eleanor, it isn’t. But hey, you have some great photos.”

She smacked him again, this time her hand stayed on his broad chest. Her hand stroked his chest under the suit jacket, she could feel his hear rapidly pounding or maybe it was EDM music.

As it approached last call, the gorgeous and very drunk giraffe floated around the club reminding everyone to meet in the limo in ten minutes or figure out a way home. This was peak Eleanor. Since she started drinking, she could navigate being exceptionally drunk and still completely aware of her surroundings and actions.

Michael threw down some bills on the bar and escorted Eleanor to the door, his hand heavy on her lower back. She was only wobbling a little in the heels she had worn.

The limo was packed with some of Jason’s closest friends, completely asleep acquaintances, and most interestingly Chidi and Tahani who were snuggled up in a corner. He looked more relaxed than usual and she was leaning in to his ear, a seriously awesome revelation.

Smiling she continued to scoot her way down the limo, sitting down, only to immediately have a set of arms wrap around her. “Eleanor, you’ll probably want a real seat with a seat belt.” Michael didn’t pull away and she didn’t try to move away, settling into his lap.

His breath was heavy against the back of her neck which gave her intense full-body goosebumps. After she inhaled, he had pressed his cheek against hers. The soft nuzzling felt amazeballs.

The car ride felt short as they pulled up, despite the very obvious touching in the limo it appeared as if no one noticed or cared.

“Stay the night with me…” She whispered, so quietly she wasn’t sure she actually spoke.

“Okay Eleanor, but we need to keep a low profile.”

He grabbed her hand and they ran up the steps on Tahani’s estate and down the halls to his room. He calmly pushed her against the door of his room and kissed her along the neck. She giggled.

 “If we’re going to do this, we need to be discreet.”

They pushed into the doorway, kissing every chance they had. It was convenient she was wearing heels because could almost reach his mouth if he leaned down at the right angle. Her arms were wrapped around his broad shoulders, his palms resting on her hips causing her dress to slightly raise.

They tumbled into his room, which was decorated similarly to her own, expect there weren’t suitcases tossed everywhere and piles of clothes covering the floor. He wasted no time and pushed her onto the plush bed. They kissed fiercely, their tongues wrestling for sumo-dominance.

“I’ll be right back.” Michael said, raising inches off of her with a devious look in his eye. She stretched long against the satin (probably silk) sheets and inhaled deeply. The smell of him lingering on the bed was intoxicating and so was the spinning of the room. Maybe she had too much to drink. She buried her face into the pillow and completely blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outtake: 
> 
> “Chidi, you literally have to make a move. Please just make a single move. “
> 
> Chidi was pondering over the board, “Michael there is a lot of information I have to weigh. I want to start in Africa, but is it weird that I’m not starting in Australia? And is it elitist that I’m not choosing Southern American countries at all?” 
> 
> Michael considered throwing himself in the fireplace.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has commented on this fic! I never intended to write a fluffy multi-chapter, but here we are.  
> Thanks for the support!

Eleanor Shellstrop woke up to a sunbeam hitting her directly in the face. Twitching her nose, she stretched out long, suddenly aware of the heavy weight of clothing on her – typically she slept nude. She rolled over and her usually empty bed was occupied by Michael reading next to her.

“Good morning Eleanor.”

She yawned and pulled herself up, sitting up against the headboard.

“You’ll want these.” He leaned over and handed her an aspirin and glass of water.

“Thanks man.”

She swallowed the pill like a champ and chugged the water.

“How are you up this early?”

“It’s 11am.”

“Oh.”

She shifted out of bed, her head feeling groggy but not hungover which was nice. As everything came back, she remembered the fierce looks of last night, the tender pressure on her body, very passionate kissing, and then passing out before anything got hot and heavy. In a very un-Eleanor manner, she blushed.

Michael glanced up at her and tenderly smiled. She felt like she was in a hyper-real dream, he was shirtless, glasses perched on his nose while she was dressed in a short mini-dress and makeup probably, no definitely smeared.

“Can I borrow your shower? I kind of want to feel like a real person again.”

“Be my guest, holler if you want company.” He said not even looking up from _The Sun._

Not warranting a response she turned on her heels and headed to the en-suite bathroom. After a luxurious rinse, she realized she had two choices: leave the bathroom and ultimately Michael’s room wearing last night’s dress or leave in a towel. Fuck.

She cracked the door open and toed out. She chose to leave on last night’s dress, if she was going to look like a hot mess, she at least wanted to look real hot. He briefly glanced up and then back down at the newspaper.

“Eleanor can you believe this? Newspapers here are so sensual! I love these headlines. Humans!”

She smirked and walked toward him, casually sitting on the edge of the bed at his feet.

“Hey dude, we should probably talk about last night.”

He sighed and placed the newspaper down, pinching his nose. He looked like he was about to be kicked.

“Look Eleanor.” He paused and she noted the stupid dumb way he said her name.

“No, Michael, you should listen. I think that after the wedding is officially over, we should get burgers, you know go out.”

He perked up, “I’d like that a real lot.”

She started to slink up his body, fingers brushing along his sides and placed her hands on either side of his head resting on the headboard. Firmly, straddling his waist, she leaned in close. She appreciated his strong jaw line before closing the distance and kissing him.

“I’ll see you at the wedding.”

\---

Jason had initially wanted the groom’s party to wear football jerseys but apparently that had been vetoed early on by the unofficial wedding planner, Tahani. So instead, she found herself wearing a black tuxedo to match the other _bros_.

The ceremony was perfectly weird. Jason was wearing a Jaguars colored tux (he opted for teal and gold) and Janet looked smoking in a white suit. The priest was Pill-boi who had been ordained online, minutes before starting.

“To having a Jaguars watching buddy for the rest of the seasons.”

“Not a sports fan, babe. “She smiled and continued, “Jason, love is a five-dimensional blob and I want to see all dimensions with you by my side. “

“I love you babe.”

“I love you too.”

Pill-boi spoke, “you may now kiss your girl!”

They smooched and it quickly escalated in to obscenities and everyone awkwardly shuffled into a giant ballroom excusing themselves from the now needed private moment. The room was beautifully decorated, Tahani had really out done herself. She filed that away, she’d never tell the leggy Brit that.

The floor was immediately filled when the Jason’s entire 60-person dance crew circled Janet and Jason for their first dance. Pure weird-o chaos.

Some speeches were made in honor of the couple, Tahani had given a rambly name-dropping speech while Chidi had given a meaningful quote from Kierkegaard or some other Danish philosopher.

And then it came to her, not one to prepare anything she raised her glass and simply said the first thing that came to mind when looking at her rag-tag team of near-death survivors, “to the good people we’ve all become, and the great couple who found each other.”

The music slowed down to a slow ambient EDM track, trashy but eerily danceable. Eleanor, not big on dancing, group activities, or signs of affection was sitting at a tall table scrolling through her Instagram feed.

A polite cough came from above her and she looked up. Michael was standing there, dapper in his suit. The man hadn’t lied, he only packed a suit and some basic toiletries, she was impressed. He was holding two glasses of champagne. “I got you a refill.”

She smiled and they clinked glasses, “to unexpected seat buddies.”

“Cheers.” And they both chugged the supposed-to-be-sipped beverage.

As they sat in silence, they watched the idiots on the ballroom floor try to dance to slow EDM.

 “Want to dance?”  

“I’ll step on your toes…”

“Just follow my lead.”

They stepped away from the table and Michael placed his hands lightly on her lower back guiding her to an empty spot. She felt acutely aware that his hands were massive and she was feeling extra bubbly. Not drunk, but tingly. She draped her arms over his shoulders, and they started to sway to the beat of the song.

At some point one of Tahani’s pre-approved romantic tracks came on and Eleanor closed the space between them, resting her cheek against his chest. He was so wonderfully tall.

The dance floor was dying down and people were shuffling out. Jason and Janet were long gone, with the promise to figure out sex stuff. Tahani was dancing against Chidi who at first glance was actually enjoying himself.

They had stopped dancing after the music changed back to incoherent EDM. At about this point in the night, old Eleanor would find the hottest guy or the closest available guy in the room to bring back to her room and _get jiggy with it._ But with recent events, she didn’t want to leave with anyone but the white ol’ goofball who was sitting next to her playing with her phone.

“This Candy Crush is so colorful and it never ends!” She had shown him the wonderful world of apps. Old people, amirite?

She must have been staring at him for a while because he tentatively spoke, “Eleanor, you alright?”

“I’m thinking…”

“Never a good sign.”

_I want to take a leap of faith._ “We should go back to you room.” She said quicker than she expected, but with the champagne buzz and serious raging hormones it was the best she got. Michael’s eyes crinkled and pocketed her phone. He grabbed her hand and silently led her out of the ballroom area and into the private hallways of Tahani’s mansion.

With one hand in her own and the other on her back, she was buzzing.

When they arrived at his room, she slipped off her high-heels because owe and faced him. She was a full foot shorter than him, she felt flushed.

Like fucking teenagers in love, they stared at each other. She couldn’t remember breathing as Michael pulled his suit jacket off and perfectly folded it over the table. He looked so serious that she laughed.

He leaned down and placed a hand on her upper arm, inches away from her face and she closed the distance with a passionate kiss. His other hand reached out and cupped her face to position them into the perfect angle.

The kiss was getting pretty hot and she was surprised when he pulled her off the ground and up so that her legs wrapped around his waist, his hands began to massage her ass over her tight pants. It was nice to be the same height as him, he slowly walked them to his bed and gently threw her down on the massive bed. She had never seen someone move so fast, but in an instant, he was leaning over her, his hands on either side of her head. They locked eye contact again, she smiled and they started kissing again.

He lowered one hand down her side and started to unbutton her dress slacks, slowly pulling them down past her ankles. He started to stroke up her thighs and pulled down her underwear in a methodical tug. Placing one hand on her inner thigh and the other on her hip, he began to caress her and lick her – tenderly and precise.

She felt flushed, the white giant was surprisingly good at this. She closed her eyes and at some point her hands reached out to grab his head and keep him tightly in place. The teasing was so hot, she felt like she was on fire. And unexpectedly, like everything this weekend, she climaxed, violently. She sat up and without missing a beat he started unbuttoning her blouse, exposing her bra and then her breasts. He cupped them, leaned in and nipped at her flushed nipples.

“It’s pretty hot that I’m completely naked and you’re in a full suit.”

Michael smirked. “I’ll show you kinky.” And proceeded to pull at his bow tie while gleaming at her. He began to unbutton his shirt and simultaneously leaned in to kiss her again.

 “Prove it.” And she scooted back on the bed, pushed against the headboard and began to stroke his chest, he was surprisingly fit for an older guy. Never stopping the kissing, she slipped his shirt off, stroking his arms.

Despite her size, she managed to coax him into flipping their position so that she sat on his thighs, completely naked looking down at him.  

She felt wetter than she had in years, especially since her almost-death experience. It felt like her whole body was throbbing as he bucked against her thighs. She could feel his excitement through his pants, long, pressed firmly against her thigh. With a delicate touch she unbuckled his belt and helped him wiggle out of his pants.  

She was speechless, there she sat on top of a too-tall, quite clever man who in the past three days had pushed every button she had and was still looking like had a secret he wasn’t sharing.

She leaned in to kiss him again.

“Eleanor, I feel after-happy when I’m with you.”

“Ditto man.”

\---

She woke up curled up against Michael’s side. She rolled over and was surprised to find him still asleep. His face was pinched like he was thinking too hard. She wanted to watch him longer but slid off the bed to find her phone which was hidden in a pile of clothes tossed half-hazardly across the room. She had booked a flight for the day after the wedding. Working at a stupid environmental nonprofit didn’t pay half as much as her telemarketing job. But hey, she had morals now. Not wanting to wake the tall giant, she slipped away in a classic Shellstrop too cool for school manor.

It was for the best, she would text him when she landed in Phoenix and they could casually text about next steps. To be honest, she didn’t even know where he lived.

Back in her room, she half-assed packing and ran downstairs to say her goodbyes to the gang.

She hugged Jason and Janet wishing them well on their honeymoon to Disney World.

“Come here you sexy giraffe.” She pulled Tahani into a tight hug and whispered, “how’d last night go.”

“Not that I would ever kiss and tell, but my pillows are properly fluffed.”

They both laughed and parted. Leaving her final goodbye for Chidi who was fiddling with a book in his hands.

“Eleanor, here’s a book for the plane. “  
“Thanks buddy!” And she hugged him too.

She promised to check in with him in a few days about the book, she gave him a kind smile and genuinely hoped he found happiness with Tahani.

After one last round of hugs, Eleanor jumped into a cab feeling like she had left on a good note. All things considered it had been a whirlwind of a weekend. As the drove to Heathrow she kept unlocking her phone and considering texting Michael already. Security was no problem, she speeded through with ease which meant she had plenty of time to stop for an afternoon Bloody Mary or two.

The boarding experience was lowkey and she was ready to pass out against the wall of the plane by the time she had seated – perks of being a window seat. She hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night – and it was awesome. Her hips felt achy and she was positive she had hand sized bruises on her sides.

She remembered the unexpected strength of the taller man as he pushed her against the bed. He was the perfect amount of roughness and damn did she love a decisive man.

Minutes from sleep, her head tipped toward the middle seat and then up when she unexpectedly heard her name being called. There stood the too-tall giant, standing in the aisle wearing an impeccable suit smiling the widest smile she had seen yet.

“Eleanor Shellstrop, I almost missed my flight because of you.”

Fully awake, her eyes widened, and he scooted in to sit next to her. Long legs jutting into her personal space. His arm crowding her arm rest, and gentle eyes gleaming at her.

She smiled, it was going to be one hell of a flight home.


End file.
